' 


Y.,  ARCHITECT 


JOHN  RUSSELL  POPE 


“  .  .  .  .  Dull  would,  be  he  of  soul  who  could  pass  by 
A  sight  so  touching  in  its  majesty.”— WORDSWORTH 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2017  with  funding  from 
Columbia  University  Libraries 


https://archive.org/details/indianalirnestone00indi_0 


Seal  of  the  University  of  Indiana  carved  in  Indiana 
Limestone  for  the  exterior  of  the  'Old  College 
Building' in  1855  and  still  perfect  (See  page  29) 


Indiana  Limestone  Quarrymen’s  Association 

BEDFORD.  INDIANA  or  BLOOMINGTON,  INDIANA 


List  of  Indiana  Limestone  Booklets 
Published  or  in  Process  of  Publication 


1  Indiana  Limestone. 

2  Indiana  Limestone  for  Office  Buildings. 

3  Indiana  Limestone  for  Churches. 

4  The  Indiana  Limestone  Bank  Book. 

5  Perfect  for  Residences — Indiana  Limestone. 

6  Use  of  Indiana  Limestone  in  School  Buildings. 

7  Distinction  in  Club  Houses. 

8  Indiana  Limestone — Nature’s  Gift  to  the  New  Library. 

9  The  Public  Choice  for  Public  Buildings. 

10  For  Dignity — Indiana  Limestone  Trim. 

11  Where  Indiana  Limestone  Should  be  Used  for  Interiors. 

12  Dignity  Plus  Delicacy  in  Mantels. 

13  The  Apartment  Building — Where  “Class”  Pays  Cash. 

14  Pergolas  and  Garden  Decoration  in  Indiana  Limestone. 

1.5  “  Mixed  Stone,”  the  Jewel  of  the  Quarry. 

10  The  Porch  that  “Makes”  the  Building  (and  “stays  put.”) 

17  The  Finer  Buildings  of  America  (an  illustrated  list.) 

18  When  Indiana  was  an  Ocean. 

(Formation  of  Indiana  Limestone.) 

19  The  Sculptor's  Stone. 

20  Indiana  Limestone  in  Public  Monuments. 

21  Mausoleums  and  Private  Monuments. 

22  The  Indiana  Limestone  Social  Register. 

(Prominent  Limestone  Houses  and  their  Owners.) 

23  The  Architect’s  \  iew  of  It. 

24  Limestone  “Quaintoddities.”  (Odd  effects  with  Crow’s  feet. 

fossils,  American  Travertine,  etc.) 

23  Designing  to  Keep  the  Cost  Down. 

(A  few  simple  rules.) 

20  “Fire-and-Water  Resistance. 

(THIS  BOOKLET  IS  VOLUME  I) 


Note 


HIS  book,  being  Volume  I  of  the  Indiana  Lime- 


A  stone  Library,  is  intended  to  have  interest  and 
to  contain  information  in  some  degree  for  both  archi¬ 
tects  and  laymen.  It  does  not,  by  any  means,  pretend 
to  cover  the  subject  of  Indiana  Limestone  completely. 

A  number  of  other  booklets,  each  covering  a  partic¬ 
ular  aspect  of  the  use  of  Indiana  Limestone,  are  being 
prepared.  Their  approximate  titles  appear  on  the  page 
opposite,  and  we  shall  be  glad  to  send  you  any  you  may 
indicate  as  they  are  issued. 

Meanwhile  the  Indiana  Limestone  Quarrymen’s 
Association  will  be  glad  to  answer  any  specific  questions 
or  give  any  help  in  its  power  with  regard  to  Indiana 
Limestone,  its  qualities,  uses,  etc.  It  will  also  be  glad 
to  furnish  to  architects  samples  of  the  stone  to  illustrate 
any  points  which  may  be  in  question. 


Address 


Indiana  Limestone  Quarrymen’s 
Association 


Bedford,  Indiana 


or 


Bloomington,  Indiana 


ilf- 1  iiTT  iJ  J1U  J1 

1 31  j  f|  llllil  l 
i  ij  ]  i!ji,n  jj  u  15 

1111  ij  ii  n  it  ii  if 


Trinity  Building,  New  York  City;  Francis  H.  Kimball,  Architect.  Indiana 
Limestone  from  sidewalk  to  skyline,  like  many  of  the  greatest  and  most 
beautiful  office  buildings  in  New  York,  Chicago  and  other  large  cities. 


Fovr 


VER  since  the  days  when  it  took  one  or  two  months  in 


a  sailing  vessel  to  go  to  Europe,  Americans,  in  constantly 


J — *  increasing  numbers,  have  made  the  trip;  made  it  mostly 
as  a  pilgrimage  to  the  art  and  architecture  of  the  Old  World. 
They  have  worshiped  at  the  shrines  of  sincere  art  and  sincere 
craftsmanship. 

Before  the  great  Gothic  cathedrals  (largely  built  of  lime¬ 
stone,  by  the  way)  they  have  stood  in  awe  pointing  out  one 
to  another  the  elaborate  stone  sculpture  and  tracery,  the 
feathery  spires  and  pinnacles;  with  knowing  looks  they  have 
called  the  attention  to  the  wonderful  craftsmanship  of  the 
stone  walls  and  buttresses,  to  the  manner  in  which  stones 
have  been  chosen,  not  for  their  absolute  likeness  in  color, 
nor  for  their  perfect  similarity  of  texture,  but  for  the  infinitely 
delicate  variety  of  both  tone  and  texture  which  they  show, 
thereby  making  even  the  plainest  and  most  uneventful  sur¬ 
faces  of  walls  interesting  and  attractive  to  the  eye. 

Having  paid  their  esthetic  respects,  no  doubt  from  the 
fullness  of  their  hearts,  to  the  works  of  the  Old  World  masters; 
having  had  their  holiday  and  turned  “back  to  the  plow,”  as 
they  say,  they  have  (with  a  small  but  very  rapidly  growing 
class  of  exceptions)  forgotten  all  the  nobility  and  beauty 
which  is  possible  to  architecture  and  built  their  own  buildings 
by  radically  different  standards  or  by  no  apparent  standards 


at  all. 


When  they  have  used  brick  it  has  been  because  there 
happened  to  be  a  brickyard  handy;  when  they  have  used 
stone  it  has  been  because  there  was  a  quarry  nearer  than  the 
nearest  saw  mill;  when  they  have  used  terra  cotta  it  has  been 
because  some  clever  salesman  has  talked  them  into  a  fleeting 
admiration  for  the  Yankee  ingenuity  and  American  commer¬ 
cial  sufficiency  which  has  made  a  clever  imitation  of  genuine 
stone  out  of  clay,  shaped  into  a  hollow  shell  and  glazed  like 
a  pickle  crock. 

At  about  the  time  of  the  Civil  War  a  few  of  the  excellences 
of  Indiana  Limestone  as  an  architectural  material  came  to 
the  attention  of  a  small  public.  From  the  time  when  the 
first  carload  was  shipped  to  Chicago  from  Bedford,  down  to 


I 


the  present  day,  the  use  of  Indiana  Limestone  in  all  the 
worthier  sorts  of  buildings  has  increased  by  leaps  and  bounds 
until  today  a  substantial  proportion  of  all  the  monumental 
buildings  of  the  country  are  built  of  it. 

But  one  of  the  best  qualities  of  the  stone  and  the  one 
which  was  largely  instrumental  in  the  calling  attention  to  it, 
namely,  its  uniformity  and  easy  working  quality  has,  in  a 
measure,  proved  to  be  to  its  detriment.  Quantities  of  per¬ 
fectly  homogeneous  fine  grain  stone  being  available,  builders, 
in  spite  of  the  lessons  of  European  architecture  and  despite 
the  fact  that  three  distinct  kinds  of  Indiana  Limestone  are 
to  be  found  in  every  quarry,  have  until  late  years  made  it  a 
practice  to  insist  upon  absolute  uniformity  in  tone,  color  and 
texture  throughout  a  building.  Although  many  wonderful 
buildings  have  been  built  in  this  way,  the  practice  has  in  a 
measure  robbed  the  stone  of  its  distinction  and  increased  the 
temptation  to  use  factory-made  substitutes  in  its  place. 

Happily  this  practice,  except  in  cases  where  for  special 
reasons  uniformity  is  desired,  is  decidedly  on  the  wane;  and, 
through  the  new  American  demand  for  sincerity  in  artistic 
expression,  which  is  only  possible  in  a  worthy  and  genuine 
material,  Indiana  Limestone,  “The  Aristocrat  of  Building 
Materials,”  has  come  into  its  own. 

Why  we,  living  on  an  Earth  which  is  nothing  but  one 
great  solid  rock  covered  with  a  thin  skim  of  soil  and  water; 
why  we,  with  the  authority  of  the  whole  history  of  human 
civilization  to  lead  us  in  the  direction  of  stone  for  a  building 
material,  should  permit  ourselves,  even  temporarily,  to  be 
turned  away  from  it  or  to  express  ourselves  in  it  wrongly, 
it  is  hard  to  see.  The  only  likely  explanation  seems  to  be 
the  youth  of  the  American  nation  and  its  youthful  enthusi¬ 
asm  for  commercial  efficiency. 

Many  of  us  get  even  more  enthusiastic  over  a  clever  imi¬ 
tation  or  a  substitute  that  “will  do”  (if  it  is  salable)  than  we 
do  over  the  original,  worthy,  true  and  genuine  thing  on  which 
the  imitation  is  based.  Of  course  this  state  of  mind  is  wrong 
and  with  the  zealous  assistance  of  the  sincere  and  able  archi¬ 
tects  of  the  country  it  is  rapidly  giving  way. 

- ; - : - - - r(."w  . — - r - 


Seven 

■— ^ i 


:  Ot  BUIl  IlINC  MMI  lilALTj 


Limestone 

Limestone,  because  of  its  especially  grateful  qualities,  has 
always  easily  held  the  leadership  among  building  stones 
wherever  it  could  be  had  at  all.  The  Pyramids  are  built  of 
it.  All  Continental  countries  are  filled  with  beautiful  and 
historic  examples  of  its  use.  Most  of  the  great  Gothic 
cathedrals  are  wrought  from  it.  Westminster  Abbey,  St. 
Paul’s  Cathedral,  and  the  Houses  of  Parliament  in  London  are 
all  Limestone — Oolitic  Limestone.  They  stand  among  the 
greatest  and  most  beautiful  of  man’s  works  of  building  art, 
venerable  and  perfectly  preserved — and  Limestone  they  are 
built  of. 

Indiana  Limestone 

Yet  the  celebrated  Portland  Limestone  of  England,  which 
is  undoubtedly  the  best  European  building  stone,  is  but  a 
poor  second  to  that  great  deposit  which  occurs  in  Lawrence 
and  Monroe  counties,  Indiana,  known  geologically  as  the 
Indiana  Oolitic  Limestone.  Although  a  great  proportion  of 
all  kinds  of  buildings  of  any  importance  in  the  United  States 
are  of  this  material,  its  importance  is  but  half  realized  and 
comparatively  few  people  even  know  it  by  name. 

-  Indiana  Limestone  is  just  the  sum  of  all  the  qualities 
which  an  architect,  an  engineer  and  a  prospective  builder 
together  could  ask  for  in  a  building  material.  It  is  beautiful 
in  color  and  in  texture;  it  is  extremely  strong.  It  can  be 
worked  with  the  greatest  ease.  Yet,  even  when  finely  carved, 
it  is,  from  any  practical  standpoint,  everlasting.  It  is  abund¬ 
ant,  and  this  with  its  easily  workable  quality  makes  it  far 
from  costly.  Its  tire  resisting  quality  is  very  high.  It  can 
be  had  in  blocks  of  practically  any  size.  Finally,  it  bears 
upon  its  face  the  stamp  of  the  original,  the  true  and  genuine, 
product  of  the  great  unfaltering  hand  of  Nature,  which  has 
placed  it  far  above  the  power  of  man’s  efforts  to  imitate. 

In  beauty,  and  dignity,  the  first  consideration  in  a  build¬ 
ing  material,  Indiana  Limestone  is  beyond  compare.  First, 
it  is  to  be  had  in  three  colors,  all  of  which  come  out  of  prac¬ 
tically  every  quarry.  Thus  a  choice  of  effects  can  be  had. 


Ni  ne 


)  Till  AUlVTOCDAI  Ol  BUILDING  M4 'll  lilALS’f 


I 


“Buff’’  Indiana  Limestone 

The  color  in  most  general  use  is  the  so-called  “buff”  Indiana 
Limestone.  As  in  so  many  other  cases,  the  common  name 
describes  “buff”  Limestone  but  poorly.  When  it  comes  from 
the  quarry  it  is  what  might  perhaps  be  called  a  sort  of  buff, 
but  on  exposure  to  the  air  it  quickly  changes  to  a  beautiful 
yellowish  gray  which  never  alters  thereafter,  except  for  the 
better,  though  exposed  to  all  sorts  of  atmospheric  conditions, 
for  hundreds  of  years.  Since,  in  our  “young  country,” 
Indiana  Limestone  has  been  used  for  building  only  about 
fifty  years,  this  would  seem  at  first  sight  a  hard  thing  to  prove. 
But  it  must  be  remembered  that  we  are  talking  of  civilization’s 
first  building  material,  the  “Rock  of  Ages,”  part  and  parcel 
of  Mother  Earth.  It  is  the  naturally  exposed  ledges  of  Ind¬ 
iana  Limestone,  prey  to  the  elements  for  untold  centuries, 
which  prove  the  permanence  of  it  in  color  as  well  as  in  form. 

“Blue"  Indiana  Limestone 

Again  with  the  “blue”  Limestone  does  the  common  name 
go  wide  of  the  mark.  When  freshly  quarried  the  blue  stone 
is  really  a  rather  dark  bluish-gray,  which  changes  on  season¬ 
ing,  that  is,  exposure  to  light  and  air,  to  a  silvery  hazy  gray 
very  pleasing  to  the  eye.  In  the  color,  both  of  buff  and  of 
blue  stone,  there  is  an  indescribable  softness,  suggestive, 
in  its  more  rugged  way,  of  the  bloom  on  a  plum. 

“Mixed"  Indiana  Limestone 

The  rarer  Limestone  of  mixed  colors,  commonly  called 
“mixed  stone,”  occurs  only  in  a  single  layer  in  each  quarry 
where  the  buff  stone  joins  the  blue.  It  is  variegated  in  color, 
no  two  blocks  being  exactly  alike,  and  is  therefore  capable  of 
producing,  when  laid  up  in  the  wall  of  a  building,  an  effect  of 
infinite  and  beautiful  variety  sometimes  described  as  “vi¬ 
brant.”  Even  the  plainest  unbroken  wall  may  be  rendered 
interesting  by  the  effect  of  texture  which  mixed  stone  gives. 
Properly  handled  by  a  skillful  architect  it  can  also  be  so  used 
as  to  convey  the  impression  of  dignified  age  in  a  new  building. 


Eleven 


5,VL*» 


Fourth  Presbyterian  Church,  Chicago;  Cram,  Goodhue  &  Ferguson, 
Architects;  Howard  Shaw,  Associate  Architect.  “Mixed"  Indiana 
Limestone  throughout.  Note  the  delicate  and  interesting  variety  of  tone 
in  the  walls  due  to  the  rare  beauty  of  the  “Mixed"  stone. 


Cram,  Goodhue  &  Ferguson,  architects  of  New  York,  who 
are  famous  as  creators  of  Gothic  architecture,  have  so  used 
“mixed”  Indiana  Limestone  in  several  famous  churches  with 
most  telling  effect.  Among  these  is  the  Fourth  Presbyterian 
Church  of  Chicago,  which  is  illustrated  on  page  12. 

There  are  many  buildings  built  in  America  of  the  uniform 
buff  and  blue  limestones  for  which  an  European  architect, 
his  imagination  influenced  by  daily  contact  with  buildings  of 
venerable  age,  would  have  chosen  the  mixed  stone.  Its 
use  where  special  effects  are  desired,  is  rapidly  increasing  in 
this  country  among  thoughtful  architects,  especially  for 
churches  and  public  buildings,  although  its  comparative 
scarcity  must  of  course  preclude  the  possibility  of  its  use 
becoming  general. 

An  especially  graceful  manner  of  using  the  mixed  stone 
is  in  the  construction  of  residences.  Here  the  variation  of 
color  and  marking,  while  taking  nothing  from  the  dignity  of 
the  building,  lends  a  homelike  and  livable  atmosphere  to  it, 
compared  with  the  more  formal  suggestions  of  the  stone 
of  uniform  color.  Mixed  stone  makes  homes  of  houses. 

Structure 

The  structure  of  Indiana  Limestone  is  very  interesting 
geologically.  The  formation  is  called  Jurassic  or  Oolitic  from 
the  Greek  cb6 v,  egg,  and  XfGos,  stone,  because  of  the  many 
little  egg-like  bodies  of  which  it  is  composed. 

In  the  Jurassic  age  Indiana  was  the  bed  of  an  ocean  which 
abounded  in  small  shell-bearing  animalculae,  mostly  bivalves 
and  univalves,  and  of  hundreds  of  different  species.  Dying 
as  they  did  by  hundreds  of  thousands  of  millions  their  shells, 
mostly  smaller  than  pinheads,  and  some  of  microscopic  size 
formed  on  the  sea  floor  a  great  massive  bed  of  carbonate  of 
lime  over  97%  pure. 

*  To  examine  any  piece  of  Indiana  Limestone  with  a  power¬ 
ful  glass  is  to  lay  before  the  eye  a  most  entrancing  exhibit  of 
the  minute  sea  life  which  existed  no  one  knows  how  many 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  years  ago.  There  are  shells  like 


Thirteen 


1.  Natural  broken  face  of  Indiana  Limestone  block.  2.  Planer  dressed  surface  med¬ 
ium  coarse  grained  stone,  actual  size.  3.  Machine  tooled  surface.  4.  Coarse,  limestone 
magnified  nix  diameters  showing  the  beautiful  fossil  shells  which  compose  i t .  lhis  grade  of 
stone  is  not  used  for  building.  5.  Fine  planer  dressed  surface  magnified  fifteen  diameters. 


Fourteen 


I 


those  of  tiny  oysters,  tiny  clams;  shells  like  tiny  snails,  tiny 
bits  of  lace,  and  tiny  things  yon  never  saw  before. 

Indiana  Limestone  consists  wholly  of  these  shells  cemented 
together  with  a  film  of  pure  calcium  carbonate. 

In  certain  corners  and  pockets  of  the  Limestone  quarries 
and  at  the  thin  edges  of  the  stratum  where  evidently  the  sea 
water  was  shallow,  large  fossil  shells  are  abundant,  but  the 
stone  containing  the  large  fossils  is  not  ordinarily  used  as 
building  material. 

It  is  because  Indiana  Limestone  is  composed  of  practically 
pure  shell  lime  with  only  an  infinitesimal  proportion  of  silica, 
magnesia,  and  oxide  of  iron  that  it  is  so  inert  chemically  as 
to  resist  perfectly  the  corrosive  gases  in  our  smoky  city  air. 

Texture 

The  texture  of  Indiana  Limestone  is  granular,  and  varies 
from  almost  invisible  fineness  to  rather  coarse.  For  interior 
work  and  sculpture  the  very  finest,  most  homogeneous  texture 
is  naturally  in  high  demand,  but  discriminating  architects 
are  by  no  means  so  anxious  to  have  it  for  exterior  use  as  they 
once  were.  The  present,  and  unquestionably  the  right  prac¬ 
tice,  is  to  avoid  the  monotonous  effect  of  perfectly  uniform 
units,  by  using  both  finer  and  coarser  grain  in  proper  propor¬ 
tions  to  get  what  is  known  architecturally  as  “texture”  in 
the  wall  itself,  except  when,  for  special  reasons,  perfect  uni¬ 
formity  is  desired.  Some  architects  prefer  to  use  the  very 
finest  grained  stone  for  the  lower  courses  of  their  build¬ 
ings,  and  the  slightly  coarser  stone  higher  up. 

Very  Easy  to  Work 

If  nature  had  set  about  laying  down  the  Indiana  Limestone 
deposits  with  no  other  end  in  view  than  man's  convenience, 
she  could  have  done  nothing  that  she  has  not  done  in  her 
magnificent  incidental  way.  This  stone  which,  once  exposed 
to  the  air,  as  in  a  building,  becomes  practically  everlasting, 
yet  is  soft  enough  when  it  first  comes  from  the  quarry  to  be 
cut  with  ease  into  all  manner  of  architectural  and  sculptural 


Fifteen 


Two  views  of  quarrying  operations  showing  with  what  precision 
the  great  blocks  are  channeled  out  and  broken  up.  Notice  the  vast 
surfaces  without  noticeable  crack,  stain  or  blemish. 


Sixteen 


ItWE  ARISTOCRAT  Of  BUILDING  MATERIALS  [ 


shapes,  and  tough  enough  to  be  carved  into  the  most  delicate 
tracery  and  ornament. 

Two  important  results  of  this  fact  are  beautiful  artistic 
effects  and  comparatively  low  price. 

Most  of  the  simpler  architectural  forms,  such  as  blocks, 
sills,  lintels,  mouldings  and  columns,  are  turned  out  with  the 
greatest  ease  by  machinery  with  none  of  the  great  cost  of 
hand  tool  work,  but  with  all  its  dignity  of  result. 

The  stone  is  cut  (never  blasted)  from  the  earth  which  bore 
it,  by  steam-driven  machines  called  channelers.  These  loosen 
great  blocks  of  the  stone  which  are  then  split  into  smaller 
blocks  and  later  sawed  into  slabs  and  building  blocks  with 
gang  saws  and  diamond  saws. 


Stone  Cut  Up  by  Diamonds 


Diamond  saws  are  circular  saws  with  teeth  of  diamond 
set  into  them.  These  teeth  are  true  diamonds  as  much  as 
the  costly  jewels  that  grace  dainty  fingers.  They  are,  how¬ 
ever,  not  transparent,  and  consequently  have  no  value  as 
jewels;  but,  being  the  hardest  substance  known,  they  can  eat 
through  Indiana  Limestone  as  a  mouse  eats  through  cheese. 

The  blocks  and  slabs  as  they  come  from  the  saws  of  course 
show  slightly  the  marks  of  the  saw  teeth,  and  these  are  either 
mechanically  rubbed  or  planed  smooth  (Fig.  2  page  14), 
machine-tool  finished  (Fig.  3  page  14),  or  hand  dressed. 

An  astounding  process  which  furnishes  an  everyday  sight 
at  the  stone  cutting  plants  is  the  turning  of  stone  columns 
on  a  lathe  with  apparently  as  great  ease  as  though  they  were 
of  wood.  (See  cut,  page  20).  The  long  rough  blocks  are 
clamped  and  centered  in  a  lathe,  and,  slowly  revolving,  are 
turned  down  with  automatic  precision  by  a  chisel-like  cutter 
to  any  required  dimensions.  This  makes  the  hewing  of  stone 
columns  a  comparatively  simple  matter,  and  turned  work 
from  small  posts  or  balusters  to  massive  columns,  a  single 
one  of  which  is  a  big  carload,  can  be  handled  with  ease  and 
perfect  accuracy. 

When  one  considers  the  sense  of  dignity  and  worth  im- 


Bird’s  eye  view  of  the  new  Grand  Central  Terminal  Group,  New  York  City  (New.  York  Central  Lines);  Warren  &  Wetmore, 
Architects.  This  is  one  of  the  greatest  building  projects  of  modern  times,  and  the  terminal  is  of  Indiana  Limestone.  “  Biltmore," 
the  famous  residence  of  Mr.  George  W.  Vanderbilt,  a  director  of  t  bis  railroad,  is  also  of  Indiana  Limestone,  and  it  is  said  that  the  in¬ 
timate  knowledge  which  Mr.  Vanderbilt  thus  gained  of  the  virtues  c»f  this  stone  had  much  to  do  with  its  selection  tor  the  great  terminal. 


Eighteen 


Nineteen 


— - "■VffPT 


Above:  the  Provost's  Tower,  University  of  Pennsylvania;  Cope  4c  Stewardson, 
Architects,  shows  what  dignity  is  added  to  other  materials  (in  this  case  brick)  by 
trimmings  of  Indiana  Limestone.  Below:  a  column  of  the  building  on  our  cover, 
30  feet,  iVi  inches  long  and  4  feet,  2?^  inches  in  diameter,  is  being  turned  on  a  lathe. 


Twenty 


parted  to  any  building  by  even  a  porch  of  Indiana  Limestone, 
the  importance  of  this  workable  quality  is  easily  seen. 

Why  Indiana  Limestone  is  Easily  Worked 

It  is  not  only  its  initial  softness,  however,  which  makes 
Indiana  Limestone  so  kind  to  the  stone  cutter,  to  the  architect 
or  artist  who  designs  the  building  or  statue,  and  to  the  man 
who  pays  the  bills.  There  are  plenty  of  kinds  of  stone  soft 
enough  to  cut  easily,  which  are  not  workable,  and  plenty 
more  not  worth  working.  Indiana  Limestone  is  what  is 
called  by  geologists  a  non-crystalline,  massive  formation, 
and  as  such  is  perfectly  homogeneous,  tough  and  free  from 
all  cleavage  planes,  (or  grain,  as  that  term  is  used  in  speaking 
of  wood.)  Many  stones,  (take  slate  for  instance)  have  a 
distinct  layer  formation,  and  consequently  will  split  in  one 
direction  but  not  in  another.  Indiana  Limestone,  on  the 
contrary,  will  split,  chip  or  cut  with  almost  equal  facility  up 
and  down  or  crosswise. 

Strength 

The  most  astonishing  thing  about  this  astonishing  stone 
of  history  is  that  in  spite  of  its  easy-working  quality  it  is 
extremely  strong,  and — strangest  of  all — extremely  elastic. 

The  only  building  stone  in  commercial  use  which  is  strong¬ 
er  is  granite,  and  granite  is  many  times  harder  and  more  diffi¬ 
cult  to  cut. 

The  reliable  weight-bearing  strength  per  square  foot  of 
Indiana  Limestone  is  over  135,000  pounds,  whereas  that  of 
the  celebrated  Portland  limestone  of  England  is  figured  at 
but  8*2,000  pounds.  Inasmuch  as  the  weight  borne  by  the 
piers  which  support  the  enormous  dome  of  St.  Paul’s  Cathe¬ 
dral  in  London  (which  is  built  of  the  Portland  limestone)  is 
only  39,000  pounds  per  square  foot,  it  is  easily  seen  that  Ind¬ 
iana  Limestone  can  much  more  than  support  any  weight 
likely  to  be  put  upon  it.  Even  the  solid  masonry  shaft 
of  the  Washington  Monument,  555  feet  high  puts  a  press¬ 
ure  on  its  foundation  of  only  45,000  pounds  per  square  foot. 


Twenty-one 


The  home  of  Mrs.  S.  R.  Hitt,  wife  of  the  late  Senator  Ilitt;  John  Russell 
Pope,  Architect.  Indiana  Limestone  is  here  strikingly  used  in  the  stately 
style.  Lower  picture:  A  trainload  of  great  blocks  from  which  Statuary  is  to 
be  carved.  One  block  makes  a  big  carload. 


Twenty-two 


Of  course  the  actual  crushing  strength  of  Indiana  Lime¬ 
stone  is  very  much  greater  than  the  135,000  pounds  mentioned 
above,  and  tiny  cubes  one  inch  on  an  edge  show  upon  test 
a  resistance  of  10,000,  11,000,  and  even  12,000  pounds. 

Elasticity 

A  bar  of  Indiana  Limestone  three  or  four  feet  long  can  be 
noticeably  bent  or  deflected  by  the  application  of  sufficient 
pressure,  and,  when  released,  will  instantly  spring  back  to 
its  original  straightness.  When  struck  with  a  hammer  it 
gives  out  a  clear,  metallic  bell  note  almost  like  that  of  a  bar 
of  steel.  This  means  that  Indiana  Limestone  is  the  most 
elastic  of  all  kindred  substances. 

At  first  glance  one  is  inclined  to  class  this  quality  as 
“interesting  but  not  important.”  Yet  as  a  matter  of  fact 
the  power  to  submit  to  distortion  without  permanent  deform¬ 
ation  is  among  the  most  valuable  qualities  a  building  material 
may  have. 

Consider  the  strain  put  upon  a  block  of  stone  whose  inside 
surface  within  a  building  may  be  50  or  60  degrees  hotter  or 
colder  than  its  outside  surface  exposed  to  the  weather.  One 
side  of  the  block  is  contracted,  and  the  other  expanded,  an 
enormous  pressure  being  put  upon  it  by  the  expansion  of  its 
fellows.  Consider  a  change  of  temperature  between  midnight 
and  noon  of  50  to  70  or  more  degrees  which  often  occurs  in 
perpendicular  walls  exposed  to  direct  sunlight.  Only  an 
elastic  material  can  easily  tolerate  this  sort  of  thing  year 
after  year.  This  is  one  of  the  great  points  (to  say  nothing  of 
architectural  beauty  and  dignity)  at  which  Indiana  Limestone 
shows  its  wonderful  adaptability  to  building  purposes  and  also 
one  of  the  great  points  at  which  manufactured  substitutes 
for  it  fail. 

Blocks  of  Any  Size  to  Be  Had 

The  only  limit  to  the  size  of  the  blocks  of  Indiana  Lime¬ 
stone  which  may  be  had  is  what  a  derrick  may  lift  and  a 
freight  car  carry.  The  stone  is  ordinarily  cut  from  the  quarry 


7  iventy-th  ree 


kfi 

| 

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1 


Indiana  Limestone  in  Varied  Uses 

Residences,  great  and  small  from  various  localities;  a  store  building; 
garden  ornaments,  and  gateways;  a  small  courthouse. 


Twenty -jour 


into  blocks  much  larger  than  it  is  possible  to  lift  out  (see  cut, 
page  1  (»)  and  split  up  into  less  unwieldly  sizes  before  lifting. 

Although  this  is  no  special  advantage  as  regards  the 
majority  of  building  units  it  makes  Indiana  Limestone  inval¬ 
uable  for  certain  purposes.  Large  statuary  groups  can  be 
sculptured  from  single  pieces  of  stone.  Each  of  the  Sphinxes 
in  front  of  the  building  on  the  cover  of  this  book  was  cut  from 
a  single  block,  lb1  2  x  734  x  8j/o  feet  in  size  and  weighing 
about  200,000  pounds  as  it  came  from  the  quarry.  One- 
piece  columns  and  pedestals  of  most  massive  and  impressive 
dimensions  (see  single-piece  columns  over  30  feet  tall  in  build¬ 
ing  on  cover)  can  readily  be  had.  The  very  essence  of  a 
beautiful  column  is  in  its  imposing  upward  thrust,  unbroken 
by  joint,  crevice  or  blemish.  And  what  can  convey  a  more 
affecting  impression  of  dignity  than  a  column,  mightily 
made  by  Nature  through  a  billion  infinitesimal  deaths, 
mightily  thought,  mightily  wrought,  and  mightily  trans¬ 
ported  by  the  brain  and  hand  of  man,  grown  cunning  through 
the  passing  of  ten  thousand  generations? 

Fire  Resistance  of  Indiana  Limestone 

What  else  should  a  perfect  building  material  have  to  its 
credit?  Well,  fire-resistance,  for  one  thing.  Here  as  every¬ 
where  Indiana  Limestone  shines  by  its  own  light. 

Fire-resistance  is  a  term  that  does  not  fully  express 
all  that  the  experienced  mean  by  it.  It  should  really  be 
called  “fire-and- water-resistance.” 

Indiana  Limestone,  under  laboratory  test,  shows  com¬ 
plete  absence  of  ill  effect  when  heated  up  to  temperatures  of 
about  1,000  degrees  Fahrenheit  and  quenched  with  water. 

At  the  temperature  of  melting  aluminum,  about  1,157 
degrees,  the  stone  shows  a  slight  tendency  to  crumble  at 
the  edges  when  quenched  with  water. 

Samples  heated  to  cherry  red,  about  1,500  degrees  Fahr¬ 
enheit  show  considerable  calcination  and  at  temperatures 
considerably  above  this  point  calcination  gradually  becomes 
more  and  more  complete  until  finally  the  stone  disintegrates. 


Twenty-five 


“ Before  and  After.”  The  National  Union  Bank  Building  withstood  the  terrible  test  of 
the  great  Baltimore  fire  so  well  that  the  Indiana  Limestone  front  wyas  afterward  put  into 
first-class  condition  for  a  few  hundred  dollars.  As  you  see,  the  principal  damage  was 
caused  by  the  fall  of  adjacent  buildings.  Here  is  conclusive  proof  of  high  fire-resistance. 

Twenty-six 

 *  


These  experiments  have  been  repeated  on  a  sufficient 
number  of  specimens  from  various  localities  to  make  the 
test  conclusive,  and  show  beyond  a  doubt  that  Indiana 
Limestone,  up  to  the  point  of  calcination  (turning  into 
quick-lime)  may  be  considered  a  fire-proof  material. 

The  point  is  that  it  also  embraces  just  as  high  resist¬ 
ance  to  the  application  of  water  while  the  stone  is  hot. 
When  tested,  as  the  limestone  above  referred  to  was  tested, 
most  other  kinds  of  stone,  some  of  which  have  a  higher 
resistance  to  fire  alone  than  Indiana  Limestone,  crumble, 
burst  or  go  to  pieces  like  glass. 

But  let  all  the  truth  be  told,  (after  which  we  shall  ask 
you  to  look  at  the  picture  on  page  26.)  ALL  decorative  or 
architectural  materials,  (as  opposed  to  purely  structural 
materials)  are  liable  to  be  ruined  or  greatly  damaged  by 
exposure  to  extremely  hot  fires,  dense  smoke  and  douchings 
with  cold  water.  The  walls  may  stand,  and  may  often  be 
serviceable  as  walls,  after  the  fire,  but  they  will  seldom  be  of 
much  value  as  things  of  beauty  if  the  fire  has  been  anything 
like  severe  enough  to  test  the  quality  of  Indiana  Limestone. 

Indiana  Limestone  will  come  through  the  ordeal  of  fire 
better  than  almost  any  other  material  for  these  reasons: 

1st.  Any  fire  hot  enough  over  any  considerable  area  to 
cause  calcination  of  Indiana  Limestone  would  mean  “build¬ 
ing  and  contents  a  total  loss,”  no  matter  what  it  miqht  be 
built  of. 

2nd.  Indiana  Limestone  has  fire-and-water-resistance  to  a 
degree  which  gives  it  a  very  high  degree  of  damage-resist¬ 
ance  and  damage-resistance  is  really  the  thing  desired. 

3rd.  Indiana  Limestone,  even  when  very  badly  stained 
by  smoke  (or  otherwise)  can  easily  be  restored  to  its  original 
freshness  by  a  scouring  with  sand  blast,  while  practically 
all  other  materials  except  freestones  may  be  injured  beyond 
redemption  by  smoke  alone. 

We  offer  the  proof  of  the  above  along  with  the  assertions. 
We  said  we  should  ask  you,  after  the  truth  about  fire-resist¬ 
ance  was  all  told,  to  look  at  the  picture  on  page  26.  Now, 

p 

' : — — - : - S — - ..  - - — .  - 1 


Twenty-seven 


I 


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ARTSTOCr?  AT 


having  told  the  truth,  we  do  hereby  ask  you  to  look  at  that 
picture,  to  read  what  is  under  it  and  to  consider  how  well 
it  bears  out  the  facts  we  have  stated. 

Durability 

One  who,  never  having  seen  it  before,  should  see  Indiana 
Limestone  as  it  comes  from  the  quarry  looking  for  all  the 
world  like  great  blocks  of  light  colored  maple  sugar,  would 
not  guess  in  a  dozen  guesses  that  the  Great  Sphinx,  the 
Pyramids  of  Gizeh,  the  main  parts  of  the  temples  Abydos 
and  the  Sun  Temple  of  Abusir,  as  well  as  a  large  proportion 
of  the  famous  temples  at  Karnak,  their  ages  measured  not 
in  hundreds  but  in  thousands  of  years,  are  built  of  it,  or  at 
least  of  a  limestone  of  similar  shell  formation,  but  geolo¬ 
gically  probably  hundreds  of  thousands  of  years  younger.  Yet 
such  is  the  case.  And  such  being  the  case,  we  can  only 
smile  at  the  thought  of  looking  for  signs  of  deterioration  in 
the  “old'’  limestone  buildings  of  the  United  States,  some 
few  of  which  have  reached  the  lusty  youth  of  fifty  years. 

The  cut  at  the  left  is  an 
unretouched  photograph  of 
the  Seal  of  the  University  of 
Indiana,  which  was  carved 
from  Indiana  Limestone  for 
one  of  the  University  build¬ 
ings  in  1855,  and  was  later 
removed  after  a  fire  to  its  pre¬ 
sent  position  in  the  ornamental  housing  over  the  so-called  Rose 
Well  on  the  University  campus.  During  all  the  sixty  years 
which  have  since  passed  this  Seal  has  been  constantly  exposed 
to  the  weather ;  yet  the  lettering  and  delicate  carving  is  as  sharp 
and  clear  as  the  day  it  was  cut.  All  the  arrises  are  perfect. 
Even  the  marks  of  the  stone-cutter’s  tool  on  the  surrounding 
surface  of  the  block,  and  its  neighbors  in  the  wall,  are  so 
perfect  that  they  look  as  though  just  made. 

Dr.  James  A.  Woodburn  of  the  History  Department  of 
the  State  University  of  Indiana  has,  at  our  request,  investi¬ 
gated  the  exact  facts  with  regard  to  this  carved  emblem,  and 


Twenty-nine 


has  kindly  written  for  the  Indiana  Limestone  Quarrymen’s 
Association  the  following  short  historical  sketch,  headed 

The  “Weather  Quality’’  of  Indiana  Limestone 

“This  Portal  was  erected  and  the  Seal  was  carved  for 
the  ‘Old  College  Building’  in  1855  after  fire  had 
destroyed  the  original  building  in  1854.  The  inscription 
reads:  ‘Indianiensis  Universitatis  Sigilum.  Holy  Bible. 

Lux  et  Veritas.  MDCCCXX.’  These  dressed  stones 
in  the  front  with  the  inscription  were  transferred  from  the 
old  building  (now  the  Bloomington  High  School  Build¬ 
ing)  and  placed  in  the  Rose  Well  House  in  1908.  The 
letters  of  the  inscription  are  as  clear  as  when  they  were 
carved  sixty  years  ago.  At  the  time  the  carving  was 
executed.  Rev.  William  Daily  was  President  of  the 
University,  Hon.  John  I.  Morrison  was  President  of  the 
Board  of  Trustees  and  Hon.  Joseph  A.  Wright  was 
Governor  of  Indiana.  The  stone  lasts  from  age  to  age.’’ 

To  dispel  any  lingering  vestige  of  doubt  let  us  allude 
again  to  the  cathedrals  of  Europe  and  those  of  England,  to 
St.  Paul's,  Westminster  and  the  Houses  of  Parliament,  those 
called  by  name  having  been  built  in  past  centuries  all  of 
Portland  Limestone,  chemically  inferior  to,  but  geologically 
identical  with  Indiana  Limestone.  And  let  us  allude  again 
to  the  clean  mossless  faces  (moss  means  disintegration  to 
the  geologist)  and  the  clear  sharp  arrises  of  the  anciently 
exposed  ledges  in  the  Bedford-Bloomington  quarry  district. 
Let  us  then  speak  no  further  about  durability.  It  seems 
hardly  needful. 

Ideal  Shipping  Location 

Another  point  at  which  Nature  was  kind  in  regard  to 
Indiana  Limestone  is  in  having  located  it  at  what  is  now 
almost  the  center  of  population  of  the  United  States.  Bed¬ 
ford  and  Bloomington,  Indiana,  in  Lawrence  and  Monroe 
counties  respectively,  are  the  centers  of  production  and 
their  central  location  coupled  with  excellent  railroad  facil¬ 
ities  has  made  Indiana  Limestone  in  actual  practice  “The 
Aristocrat  of  Building  Materials”  in  every  state  in  the  Union 
and  most  of  the  provinces  of  Canada. 


Interior  of  the  Cathedral  Chapel  of  the  Queen  of  All  Saints,  New 
\ork  City;  Reiley  &  Steinback,  Architects.  Nearly  everything  you 
see  (except  pews  and  chandeliers)  is  of  Indiana  Limestone. 


Thirty-two 


The  wonderful  architectural  qualities  of  Indiana  Lime¬ 
stone,  capped  by  the  three  things  which  tend  toward  reas¬ 
onable  price — shipping  location,  easy  working  quality  and 
abundant  supply — all  co-operate  as  though  by  a  carefully 
arranged  plan  to  make  Indiana  Limestone  the  very  acme 
of  material  for  the  construction  of  all  classes  of  buildings 
which  are  wholly  or  in  part  of  decorative  purpose,  from 
the  small  residence  or  apartment,  the  dignified  little  store 
or  bank  to  the  great  edifices  of  commercial,  religious,  public 
or  monumental  sort.  And  its  use  is  not  even  confined  to 
the  exterior  of  these  buildings,  but  finds  a  thousand  oppor¬ 
tunities  for  interior  beautification  in  the  finer  buildings  of 
every  class. 

Can  anything  more  be  asked  of  a  single  building  material? 

Is  not  Indiana  Limestone  in  truth  the  aristocrat  of  the 
building  world? 

Service  Bureau 

We  maintain  for  the  free  use  of  architects,  builders, 
and  owners,  prospective  or  actual,  a  Service  Bureau.  This 
Bureau  is  prepared  to  answer  all  questions  about  Indiana 
Limestone  and  its  most  economical  and  otherwise  advan¬ 
tageous  uses;  to  furnish  adecpiate  samples  of  buff,  blue  or 
mixed  stone;  to  assist  in  locating  extra  coarse,  fossil  bearing, 
or  other  odd  qualities  of  stone  for  special  uses  and  in  general 
to  render  to  those  interested  in  Indiana  Limestone  any 
service  within  its  power.  It  can  supply  original  photo¬ 
graphs  of  Indiana  Limestone  buildings  of  all  kinds,  or  de¬ 
tail  thereof,  to  illustrate  what  can  be  accomplished  in  the 
direction  of  your  special  interests  or  desires. 

It  will  be  a  pleasure  to  perform  any  of  these  services 
for  you.  The  Bureau  makes  no  charges,  and  places  no  con¬ 
ditions  upon  the  service  it  renders  or  endeavors  to  render. 
Do  not  hesitate  to  ask  us. 

INDIANA  LIMESTONE  QUARRYMEN’S 
ASSOCIATION 

Bedford,  Indiana.  or  Bloomington,  Indiana 


Thirty-three 


Group  of  city  and  country  residences,  apartments  and  school  build¬ 
ings  from  various  parts  of  the  United  States. 


Thirty- to  "r 


UTTS  1 1  iC  \!  Of  BUILDING  ~Vl  Vt  E  R I A  Lgtf 


Scientific  and  Practical  Data  in 

Brief 

CHEMICAL  ANALYSIS 

(AVERAGE) 

Indiana 

Limestone 

Portland  (Eng¬ 
land)  Limestone 

Carbonate  of  Lime 

97.2(5 

95.16 

Silica 

1.69 

1  .20 

Oxide  of  Iron 

.49 

.50 

Magnesia 

.37 

1 .20 

Water  and  Loss 

19 

1  .94 

100.00 

100  00 

Magnesia  is  the  substance  which  tends  to  weaken  lime¬ 
stone  and  decrease  its  durability.  Consider  the  known  dur¬ 
ability  of  Portland  stone  and  note  that  it  nevertheless 
contains  nearly  four  times  as  much  of  the  detrimental 
magnesia  as  does  Indiana  Limestone. 


Weight 

Average  Weight  159  lbs.  per  eu.  ft. 

Porosity 

Ratio  of  Absorption  1  to  42 

Ratio  of  Absorption  (Portland  Stone)  1  to  20 

Reliable  Load  Bearing  Strength 

Indiana  Limestone  135,000  lbs.  per  sq.  ft. 

English  Portland  Stone  .82,000  lbs.  per  sq.  ft. 

Loads  Borne  l>v  Stone  in  Notably  Heavy  Structures 

Piers  of  St.  Peter's,  Rome  33,000  lbs.  sq.  ft. 

Piers  of  St.  Paul's,  London  39,000  lbs.  sq.  ft. 

Piers  of  Brooklyn  Bridge  57,000  lbs.  sq.  ft. 

Granite  Masonry  of  Washington  Mon¬ 
ument  45,000  lbs.  sq.  ft. 

If  the  load  bearing  strength  of  Indiana  Limestone  which 
is  given  {very  conservatively )  above  is  compared  with  the 
weights  per  square  foot  supported  by  the  piers  or  foundations 
of  the  above  well  known  buildings,  some  idea  of  the  enor¬ 
mous  strength  of  Indiana  Limestone  may  be  had. 


»-  ** 

V  IA  N 


Carved  Indiana  Limestone  surrounding  clock  on  Utica,  X.  Y.  Pas¬ 
senger  Station;  Stem  &  Sellheimer,  Architects.  It  is  fourteen  feet,  seven 
inches  long,  twelve  feet,  six  inches  high,  and  a  man  could  stand  erect 
in  the  opening  which  contains  the  clock.  The  inscription  is,  of  course, 
imaginary,  but  much  to  the  point. 


AVERY  LIBRARY 
COLUMBIA  UNIVERSITY 


“THE  ARISTOCRAT 
OF  BUILDING  MATERIALS" 


